The 97th season of Stanford men's basketball is finally upon us as the Cardinal (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) hosts the Central Arkansas Bears (0-0, 0-0 Southland) in their 2011-12 season debuts. Stanford enters the season looking to make some noise in the completely redesigned Pac-12 conference amongst a number of top 25 opponents like the No. 24 Cal Golden Bears, No. 17 UCLA Bruins, and No. 16 Arizona Wildcats, while the Bears are looking to get off to a good start after an abismal 2010-11 campaign.
This is the first meeting between these schools on the hardwood, though the Cardinal have fared well in their season openers as of late, winners of 21 of its last 23 to start the season. It also marks the second straight season that the Cardinal start the year at home, earning a 64-48 victory over the University of San Diego at Maples Pavilion last year.
As for Central Arkansas, they will look to improve on their 5-24 season in 2010-11 as they currently sit fifth in most preseason polls for the Southland Conference. They'll have an uphill battle all season starting with the Cardinal, though Stanford shouldn't struggle to mightily against the Bears this Friday.
Date: Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, 7 p.m. PT
Site: Maples Pavilion (7,329) • Stanford, CA
Series History: First Meeting Ever
Radio: KNBR 1050 AM (Play-by-Play: John Platz, Analyst: Drew Shiller)
TV: Not Televised
Webcast: www.gostanford.com (Play-by-Play: Kevin Danna)
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